NEGROS Occidental, including its capital Bacolod City, will top the tourist arrival in the region for 2018, the top official of the Department of Tourism (DOT) in Western Visayas said.
DOT- Western Visayas Director Helen Catalbas, who was in Talisay City on Thursday, January 31, for the Negros First Transformative Agriculture Summit, said the combine tourist arrivals of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City are projected to surpass that of Aklan hosting Boracay Island.
Though the regional line agency has yet to issue the complete tourist arrival report, most probably on February 15, Catalbas said there’s already a sure decline of about one million tourists in the region’s top island-destination due to its six-month closure.
“We can no longer bring back the losses in tourist arrivals of Boracay,” she said, adding it will be the domestic tourists that will pull up Negros Occidental and Bacolod City.
In 2017, the province and its capital city catered to the second highest number of tourists in Western Visayas.
DOT- Western Visayas reported that of the 5.85 million tourists visited the region, combined tourist arrivals of 1.72 million, or 29 percent, are accounted for Negros Occidental and Bacolod City.
For Negros Occidental alone, the regional line agency reported 892,199 arrivals. Of which, 856,511 are domestic and 35,688 foreign tourists.
Bacolod, a highly-urbanized city, has catered to 831,687 tourists last year. It received 756,835 domestic and 74,852 foreign guests.
During that year, Aklan which hosts Boracay Island remains the region's top tourist destination with about 2.22 million arrivals.
The province comprises 38 percent of the total arrivals.
It was followed by Iloilo province, also including its capital Iloilo City, with almost 1.39 million or a combined percentage of 23 percent.
Capiz ranked fourth with 229,195 tourists followed by Antique and Guimaras with 162,925 and 128,256, respectively.
Amid the decline in tourist arrivals in Aklan, the regional line agency remains optimistic that the region is able to recover as there are other destinations in Western Visayas that noted huge arrivals last year.
These included those in Negros Occidental and other provinces including Iloilo, Capiz, Antique, and Guimaras along with two highly-urbanized cities of Bacolod and Iloilo.
Catalbas stressed that “just because there was a slump in the tourist arrivals of Boracay, it does not necessarily mean that figures for the whole region will also decline.”
Though, Aklan is expected to recover this year given its newly-rehabilitated island-destination considered to be more attractive to tourists.
Aside from other provinces in Western Visayas, other destinations in other regions in the country are also seen to “benefit” from the temporary closure of Boracay Island.
In fact, the DOT Central Office earlier reported that the country has recorded “the highest ever” number of tourist arrivals for 2018 at about seven million. (EPN)